Of Jians and Zanbatou's
by Major Mike Powell III
Summary: Co-Op fic with GrimGrave. This is the story of the love between the wielders of the Chinese sword and the Zanbatou. Read & Review, people! That's an order!


Of Jians and Zanbatou's

By GrimGrave and Major Mike Powell III

Darkness. Its always dark early in the morning during winter. The chill and the dark, engulfing the mountains and plains of Korea, from icy blue to pitch black. And across these plains and mountains, there is a dojo that keeps out the cold shadows of winter.

And in one room in particular, there is a heat that surrounds it, warming it up more than the rest of the building; one old-fashioned bed, and a pair of connected hearts.

Seong Mina's eyelids twitched and slowly rose up, revealing brown-grey eyes that immediately set their gaze upon a pair of equally brown eyes in front of her. She could only smile as her right arm slowly wrapped itself around the slightly younger girl, who was welcoming it eagerly.

"This better not be a dream…Xianghua...You're really here..."

"I'm here Seong Mina…And if it's a dream...Then lets never wake up."

The young lovers shared a low laughter, as they shared one of many kisses in the misty winter morning, with thoughts of nothing but each other.

As the young women began to lose themselves to each other and the passion they were bound to share, they couldn't help but let their minds wander to but a few months earlier, when all of this began...

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

For Chai Xianghua, it started when she and Kilik returned to Edge Master's home in the mountains of China to tell him about Nightmare's defeat at Xianghua's hands and the shattering of Kilik's Mirror Sash. On the way, the swordswoman and staff-wielder stopped by the latter's home village to pay their respects to Kilik's deceased sister, Xianglian, where they were met by their old friend, the nunchuck-wielding pirate with great hair, Maxi.

It was at that moment that Xianghua tried to get Kilik's attention by pretending to trip and fall, hoping he would catch her in his arms and declare his love for the brown-haired girl in a moment of lovely epiphany. However, Xianghua's plan failed miserably.

She fell face first to the grass floor, Kilik just stared at her in confusion with a sweat drop rolling down the side of his head and Maxi laughed his head off. Xianghua sat up on her knees and puffed out her cheeks. She called Kilik an idiot and walked away to their campsite, her hands on her hips and her chin high. The staff-wielder simply scratched his cheek and followed her, Maxi chuckling heartily next to him.

It was that night that Xianghua decided, as she lay on her bedding, that Kilik would never realize her love for him, much less feel the same way for her. She only cried a single tear for him.

The next day, they parted ways with Maxi who continued on with his quest to find and kill Astaroth to avenge his fallen pirate comrades. Kilik and Xianghua wished him a safe trip and good luck, before going on their way to the mountains.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Meanwhile, in Seong Mina's memories, the owner of Scarlet Thunder travelled over the grassy plains, onto the mountain regions of China on the hunt to destroy Soul Edge, or anything that could leave a hint of its whereabouts, completely unaware that somebody had already beat her to the destruction of the sword. Mina was also chasing down that idiot, Yun Seong, who stole the sword White Storm in his own search for the so-called "Sword of Salvation". She was going to destroy Soul Edge, catch Yun Seong and bring him back home before he caused any more trouble.

She travelled for several days without encountering anybody, with her goal keeping her going, but her food and water provision gone since not too long ago. She would have to sidetrack to a village, or travellers for provisions if she were to hope to survive the area.

The blanket of night slowly fell, but Seong Mina kept on walking, her zanbatou in hand for support; her provisions were spent, and bit by bit, her strength was fading.

This wasn't how she was supposed to die; Not by starvation in the mountains. She was supposed to be able to settle down with someone, or at least die in battle, protecting something she loved.

Or Someone.

She never knew "love". Not romantic love at least. She loved her family and friends. But she never knew real love, especially not from the man her parents picked for her to marry, Hwang. As far as romance went, she was a novice. And now, she was a novice who would die without knowing romance.

Her determination not being enough to support her, the last of her strength vanished like a candlelight in the wind. All she could remember was hearing distant voices, and the sound of grass and rock being trampled.

And for the oddest reason...the feminine voice was the one that calmed her before passing out.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Warmth and silence greeted Mina when she regained consciousness. She was lying on a soft futon in a darkened room with only a candle sitting on a small wooden table next to the futon. Seong Mina's eyes darted around the room. She was confused, tired and slightly panicked but she soon calmed down when she saw her Scarlet Thunder sitting on an otherwise empty weapons' rack next to the wall. She sat up in the bed and looked down at herself. She blushed scarlet.

"What the...? Who changed my clothes?" She was wearing a light brown, two sizes-too-big-for-her yukata. She looked around frantically and didn't see her original clothes. She scratched her head. "Hmmmm...I wonder whose home this is..." It was at that moment that the door to the room slid open and Mina felt her heart skip a beat when she saw a bright-pink and blue-clad young woman with a blue headband walk in carrying a tray with deliciously-smelling food.

"Oh, hey there! You're finally awake!" The brown-haired girl chirped like a songbird before she chuckled once she heard a blushing Seong Mina's stomach growl embarrassingly loud at the mere scent of the food. "You're hungry, I presume?" The lovely stranger walked in and kneeled next to Mina, placing the tray on the yukata-clad girl's lap. "No wonder. You looked terrible when we walked into you. Eat up!" She said cheerfully and Mina, forgetting every single bit of etiquette she was taught at home, dug right in, wolfing down the food, earning a giggle from the brunette next to her.

"I'm the one who changed your clothes, by the way," the girl spoke casually and Mina choked on the bread she was eating. Her companion panicked and slapped her back while Mina coughed, washing the food down with some water. "Sorry for startling you!"

"N-no, it's...(Cough) It's Ok! I'm good...Thanks, by the way. You saved me, um, miss...?" Mina said once she swallowed, and her savior blushed when she realized something.

"O-Oh! I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Chai Xianghua. Me and my friend Kilik found you on our way to this place. This is the dojo of a martial arts master named Edge Master. What's your name?" The girl now known as Xianghua explained and Mina wiped her mouth with a napkin.

"Ah, I see. I'm Seong Mina. I was making my way through these mountains in search of something. I heard a few rumors and decided to investigate," it was the Korean girl's time to explain. Xianghua blinked twice and tilted her head to the side.

"Mina...that's a lovely name," she began with a smile, earning a small blush from the former. "Searching for something, you say? What would you be searching for in these mountains?" Xianghua asked. Seong Mina looked uncomfortable and rubbed the back of her head, obviously hesitant to reveal the object of her search. However, one look at Xianghua's innocent, warm brown eyes, Mina found her resolve crumbling.

"I...I'm searching for two things: First, my idiotic friend, Yun Seong, who ran away from home in search of Soul Edge..." She saw Xianghua's eyes widen and heard her gasp. "And as you may deduct, I also want to find Soul Edge, and destroy it." This seemed to calm Xianghua down a bit before she seemed to look...sheepish? Mina blinked. "Eh...? What's with that look on your face, Miss Xianghua?"

"O-Oh...well, I think it's better if you find out right now...you see, me and Kilik, we...we destroyed Soul Edge about a week ago. Also, something that belongs to him was broken and we came here to inform Edge Master. So, I guess...you could say we..."

"Got the job done before I could, right?" Mina couldn't help but grin and chuckle and the Chinese girl's expression. "Well, that's one issue dealt with. I do feel kind of let down I almost died in search for something that was already destroyed." Mina sweat-dropped and so did Xianghua.

"Well, you can now look for your friend, right? You can stay here and rest until you are ready to return to the road."

"Thanks, Miss Xianghua." At hearing this, Xianghua pouted and Mina blinked twice. "Eh? Is there a problem?"

"Just call me by my name! That makes me feel old." The girl argued. Seong Mina giggled.

"Well, you can call me Mina, if you want. Pleased to meet you!" She surprised Xianghua by extending her hand. The Chinese swordswoman just shrugged and shook Mina's hand. After they did this, Mina suddenly had a pensive expression on her face. "Say, Xianghua...you said you and your friend destroyed Soul Edge. Does that mean you're a fighter?"

Xianghua blinked twice before nodding with a confident expression on her face.

"Yes, that's right! I wield a jian, or Chinese sword. And by what me and Kilik saw, you wield a...what is it called...?" Xianghua put her index finger to her chin, turning to look at Mina's weapon on the rack. Mina chuckled.

"It's a zanbatou. I call it Scarlet Thunder. Hey..." Xianghua turned to look back at Mina, who stretched and rolled her shoulders, then testing her arms. Once she was done, Seong Mina looked at Xianghua with a challenging look. The Chinese girl blinked twice. "You know? I haven't had a fight, nor even a spar with anybody for weeks now, and you say you beat the Azure Knight, Nightmare, himself, so...can I try my strenght against you?" Mina smiled wide. Xianghua blinked twice and then jumped to her feet.

"Sure thing, Mina! But I assure you: My resolve cannot be swayed!"

"Alright! But know this: I will never lose!"

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

It all started on that day for them.

After changing into clean clothes, Seong Mina picked up Scarlet Thunder and followed Xianghua to another room so she could retrieve her Jian and then, they walked to the outside of the Ling Shen Tsu temple, to the sparring circle. Kilik and Edge Master walked out to meet the girls and after the introductions, Xianghua and Seong Mina crossed blades.

The fight was simply awesome for both girls; there were parries, counters, lucky strikes, kicks, punches, near-hits, close calls, and even cuts and bruises, and after only twenty minutes, Seong Mina and Xianghua were absolutely spent and near unconscious, yet they still had a vice grip on their weapons, which they could barely lift (in Mina's case) and swing (in Xianghua's case).

In the end, Edge Master declared the match a draw and once that was said, the ladies dropped their weapons and collapsed against each other (they were standing in a blade lock), falling to their knees and all they could do was say simultaneously:

"You're pretty good."

And then, they fainted dead on the spot.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

When they woke up, they found themselves lying on separate futons set right next to each other, their hands somehow wound up joined together, their fingers intertwined. They blushed scarlet and their hands twitched as if they were about to separate, yet as they looked at each other's blushing faces and warm, smiling eyes, they couldn't bring themselves to break apart.

They briefly wondered why they were sleeping next to each other and who came up with the idea, but soon, they just giggled about it.

And so, time just seemed to fly by and Xianghua and Seong Mina became ever-closer. They traveled across the land of the East, helping people in need, and using the pieces of the Sacred Stone to cure people who were aflicted by the Evil Seed, and overall earning the favor of the good-meaning people they came across. Also, they just so happened to stumble upon Yun Seong, who was engaged in a sword fight with severa lowly bandits. Xianghua and Mina, along with Kilik sprung into action and gave the bandits a thorough beatdown...and after that, Mina bonked Yun Seong in the head with Scarlet Thunder, before yelling at him for a good ten minutes about his stupidity.

Xianghua and Kilik made a note between them not to make Mina angry. Ever.

So, the ladies asked Kilik to escort Yun Seong back to Korea and to keep him out of trouble at all costs. Kilik sweat-dropped and Yun Seong whined, yet they agreed and left the girls to their own devices.

And so, the two young women kept getting closer and one night, when they were taking a relaxing bath in a natural hot spring, Mina kept noticing the fleeting glances Xianghua kept giving her and her beautiful, lithe, athletic yet perfectly curved and very much naked body and she had a permanent blush on her cheeks, turning her gaze away every time Mina looked her way.

Another five minutes of this, and Mina suddenly had an epiphany: the day she woke up with her hand holding Xianghua's, the times they would share a bed at inns they spent the night at, and during which Mina found out, (for some reason) quite to her delight, that Xianghua was a cuddler, and most of all: the amazing feelings the Chinese girl would provoke in her when they sparred against against each other, the trust they had for one another in fights against other opponents...

It all made sense now and Mina smiled wide, and Xianghua's loving gaze only confirmed her suspicions. And Seong Mina couldn't be happier.

And so, Mina slowly swam up to Xianghua and pulled herself up to sit at the border of the natural pool and beckoned Xianghua over.

"Hey Xianghua, you look kind of tense. I see you rubbing your shoulders. Why don't you sit here and relax while I give you a little massage~?" Mina sang, pointing to the space free between her thighs, which were enticingly opened, giving Xianghua and perfect, un-obstructed view of Mina's...

"Eeep!" Xianghua tensed up inmediately, her face flushed scarlet and her eyes desperately trying to unglue themselves from the zanbatou-wielding woman's beautiful body. She somehow managed to move her eyes up from between Seong Mina's legs, up her delicious abs, over her bountiful breasts and up to her smiling lips and gleaming eyes, She tried her best to fight her desires, but in the end, Mina's smile was too much and she silently nodded and moved to sit between Mina's thighs, sitting down on a stool-like rock and letting Mina's hands land on her shoulders and begin kneading them.

Soon, Xianghua had all but dosed off, her eyes closed, feeling wonderful under her friend's skillful ministrations, easing all the tension off her shoulders and neck and cheeks and-wait, what?

"Mina...? What's-? Wow!"

Fireflies. Lots of them. Soft, floating yellow lights illuminating the night sky, their hue reflecting off of the water's surface. She heard the sound of rippling water and felt Mina slide down and Xianghua gasped and turned her head to see Mina's arms wrapped themselves around her shoulders and belly from behind, the older girl's body pressed flush against her back.

"Beautiful, aren't they?" Seong Mina whispered in Xianghua's ears, and she smiled softly, turning her gaze back to the sky.

"Yes..." The Chinese girl spoke breathlessly. Mina's smile widened and she moved her hand up from Xianghua's shoulders to delicately stoke her chin, her lips, her cheek and her hair.

"Do you love me, Xianghua?"

The girl looked at her through half-lidded eyes and gave Mina her answer via a kiss; sweeter than any wine, softer than a cloud, innocent and full of love.

"Good, because I love you too, Xianghua." Mina spoke before pulling her newly-found lover into another, steamier kiss, which took Xianghua's breath away.

It went on from there.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

And so, Chai Xianghua and Seong Mina, two warrior women brought together by the Star of Destiny, their Fates deeply entwined, have embarked on a journey of love and trust. Together, they will prevail.

Love always does.

_The legend will never die_

_FIN_

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Done with the invaluable help of GrimGrave. Thanks for getting me back in the ball, my friend! And for all you people who have read to this point, thank you very much for reading and I hope you'll be kind enough to reciprocate our efforts to write this story with a nice review. ^o^

Till next time!

_Semper-Fi!_Carry on!


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